share:

OVERVIEW

powered by AFI

Brief Synopsis

When he invents a new washing machine, a plumber becomes a millionaire.

Mendel, who lives with his wife Zelda and children Mimi, Jakie and Lillian, on New York's Lower East Side, is too lazy to work as a plumber, his chosen occupation. Even though his children need shoes and his son needs his teeth fixed, Mendel's heart is in his inventions. Zelda, worried that her oldest daughter Lillian will never get married, asks her brother Bernard Schnaps to act as a matchmaker. He proposes a doctor. His friend, Sam Shtrudel, proposes a dentist, but Lillian has found her own boyfriend, a lawyer named Milton. Zelda is really worried when she discovers that the dentist, the doctor and the lawyer are all the same person; Milton likes to study. Meanwhile, Mendel has invented a dishwasher, but no one believes in it except his neighbor Bessie. Nonetheless, he persists and his demonstration is a success. Schnaps and Shtrudel offer to take it to the landlord, Gassenheim, to see if he will produce it in his plant. Meanwhile, Mendel dreams of establishing a wonderful house on the Lower East Side with the profits from his invention. He returns home to find the landlord's agent waiting to serve an eviction notice. Schnaps and Shtrudel announce that the machine has broken all of Gassenheim's dishes and he is not interested in producing it. Zelda is so upset by Mendel's actions that she offers to trade places with him; she will work and he can take care of the house. Soon, however, Gassenheim announces he is ready to manufacture the machine. His cook figured out how to use it, and he thinks it is wonderful. Zelda and the children dream of moving uptown to a high class neighborhood, but when Mendel returns from signing with Gassenheim, he tells them he has purchased the building where they live. He builds a mansion on the site and hires someone to perform a rich man's duties, such as playing polo, while he sits at home, but Zelda and the family have moved out and do not see Mendel's improvements. Then Gassenheim stops sending checks, forcing Zelda and the children to return home, where they are surprised by how nice the house looks. Mendel learns that Gassenheim is behind the injunction that has stopped production on the machine, but Milton uses a lawyer's arguments to get around him. Everything is fine again, and Zelda and the children return home for good.